Book Review: Will To Live by Rachel Amphlett (Detective Kay Hunter #2)

Detective Kay Hunter is back in Will To Live, Amphlett delivers another exciting crime thriller!

Book Description:

Reputation is everything.

When a packed commuter train runs over a body on a stretch of track known to locals as ‘Suicide Mile’, it soon transpires that the man was a victim of a calculated murder.

As the investigation evolves and a pattern of murders is uncovered, Detective Sergeant Kay Hunter realises the railway’s recent reputation may be the work of a brutal serial killer.

With a backlog of cold cases to investigate and attempting to uncover who is behind a professional vendetta against her, Kay must keep one step ahead of both the killer and her own adversaries.

When a second murder takes place within a week of the first, she realises the killer’s timetable has changed, and she’s running out of time to stop him…

Will to Live is the second book in a new crime thriller series featuring Kay Hunter – a detective with a hidden past and an uncertain future…

My Thoughts:

Will To Live follows Scared To Death in this crime thriller series. For maximum enjoyment, I recommend starting with book one; while the cases in each book are not linked, the backstory is continuous. And if you haven’t read book one yet, it’s awesome – so you’ve got two exciting meetings with Kay Hunter awaiting you!

There’s a stretch of track called ‘Suicide Mile,’ but in Will To Live, the cause of death is anything but suicide. Amphlett has plotted an exciting mystery; can Kay track down the killer before there’s a third body? And what a terrifying way to go….you’re tied to the tracks and a train is hurtling towards you – the train isn’t the only thing that moves at a fast pace, with short, exciting chapters, you’ll fly through this novel!

As I mentioned earlier, there’s an ongoing storyline in this book that follows on from book one, in which Kay is looking for the person responsible for her ending up in front of the Professional Standards Committee with her career on the line. In Will To Live Kay begins her own covert investigation into who framed her and things are really heating up. I probably enjoyed this sub plot, the same as, if not more, that the main case. We get to see some of the fallout from Kay working in secret and Amphlett knows how to build suspense; I’m so excited for book three – whose name was on the deleted file Kay!? Who’s trying to blacklist you!?

As in book one, I enjoyed reading Kay’s interactions with her husband, Adam, they make a great fictional couple – I love that they actually like each other and he doesn’t resent the long hours she puts in at work. Adam is a vet so it’s always fun to see which animal he’s going to bring home to look after.

Will To Live is fast-paced, thrilling and thoroughly enjoyable – a crime thriller series worth investing in!

Sounds like a good series. I like that the main character is married. I get tired of reading about too many dysfunctional relationships or about loners who can’t maintain a relationship. Thanks for the review!